14 DAY TRIAL // Fantasia: Music Evolved, the next big project from developer Harmonix and Disney, takes full advantage of the new and improved Kinect sensor for the Xbox One and aims to translate the original movie from 1940 for the current consumer, according to its developer.
Harmonix has made a name for itself by delivering some stellar music-themed experiences over the years, from Rock Band to Dance Central and more. Currently, the studio is working on a downloadable Dance Central Spotlight title, as well as on the full-fledged Fantasia: Music Evolved, in partnership with Disney.
The new title is based on the classic 1940 movie made by the long-running company but doesn't want to just copy that experience in the form of a game. Instead, according to Executive Producer Chris Nicholls, who has talked with GRTV, the movie is used as an inspiration.
The whole Harmonix team wanted to ensure that current consumers are engaged in an experience that feels a part of the old movie, delivering a fresh blend between music and the actual players.
"We knew we didn't want to make the game like an interactive version of the movie, that wouldn't have been cool," Nicolls says. "But we wanted to be really be genuinely connected to what they were trying to create, and really make it for now, make it for the 21st century, where the audience is different."
"This is about you expressing yourself and having a relationship with the music that you've never been able to have before."
What's more, Nicolls is quite proud of what his team managed to do with the new Kinect sensor for the Xbox One. He emphasizes that Fantasia will set the bar for what the peripheral is capable of and that plenty of consumers will be convinced of its power when the game is launched.
"The Kinect 2 really does change the experience for people. We're still in the early stages, I don't think people really understand what Kinect can do, and we may be the first game that really sets out to make something that's never been done before, and that could only be done by, you know, waving your hands about like a crazy person."
Fantasia: Music Evolved is set to appear this October exclusively for the Xbox One and Xbox 360 platforms from Harmonix and Disney. You can expect to see much more of the impressive rhythm and music game until then.
